Enjoy a low rate personal loan that is 100% made for you
6.89%
Variable
8.89%*
Unsecured Personal Loan (Excellent Credit Rating) (3 Years Term)
7.49%
Variable
7.84%
$250
From $1k
monthly over 3 years
Pros
Cons
New Car | Total repayments $33,590 |
Used Car | Early Exit Penalty Fee $0 |
Motorcycle | Missed Payment Penalty $0 |
Boat | Redraw Activation Fee N/A |
Student Loan | Repayment Type Variable |
Debt Consolidation | Loan Type Secured |
Renovation | Available to 457 Visa Holders |
Shares | Redraw Facility |
Holidays | Extra Repayments |
Medical Bill | Line Of Credit |
Wedding | Upfront Fee $250 |
Ongoing Fee $0 | Borrowing range $1k - $100m |
Southern Cross Credit Union was established in 1966, in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, as the Tweed BGF Members Credit Union. In 1975, it merged with Lismore Community Credit Union to become Tweed Byron Credit Union before changing its name to Southern Cross Credit Union in 1997.
Today, Southern Cross Credit Union has grown to serve members from across New South Wales and Australia.
A bad credit personal loan is ‘unsecured’ when the borrower doesn’t offer up an asset (such as a car or jewellery) as collateral or security. Lenders charge higher interest rates on unsecured loans than secured loans.
Comprehensive credit reporting means including both positive and negative information on a person’s credit file. Before comprehensive credit reporting was introduced, only negative information was included.
Most negative events that appear on a personal’s credit file will stay in their credit history for up to seven years.
You may be able to improve your credit score by correcting errors in your credit report, clearing outstanding debts, and maintaining good financial habits over time.
While some personal loans can be secured by the value of an asset, such as a car or equity in a property, student personal loans are often unsecured, with higher interest rates.
Some lenders also offer guarantor personal loans to students. These loans have lower interest rates, as a guarantor (usually a relative of the borrower with good credit) will guarantee the loan, taking on the financial responsibility if the borrower defaults.
Lenders aren’t allowed to charge interest on loans of $2,000 and under. Instead, they make their money by charging a one-off establishment fee of up to 20 per cent and a monthly account-keeping fee of up to four per cent. Lenders might also ask you to pay a government fee.
For loans between $2,001 and $5,000, lenders can make their money in only two ways: a one-off fee of $400 and annual interest rates of up to 48 per cent.
For loans of $5,001 and above, or for loans that have terms longer than two years, lenders can charge annual interest rates of up to 48 per cent. (Those fee caps don’t apply to loans offered by authorised deposit-taking institutions such as banks, building societies or credit unions – although such institutions are highly unlikely to charge interest rates of anywhere near 48 per cent.)
It can be hard to improve your credit score, as it usually requires sacrifice and discipline, but hard doesn’t necessarily mean complicated. There are nine steps you can take to improve your credit score, most of which are simple to follow.
As a general rule, the lower your credit score, the more remedies you can apply and the greater the scope for improvement.
It may be much more difficult for a self-employed borrower to successfully apply for a personal loan if they also have bad credit. Many lenders already consider self-employed borrowers to be riskier than those in full time employment, so several self-employed personal loans require borrowers to have excellent credit.
If you’re a self-employed borrower with a bad credit history, there may still be personal loan options available to you, such as securing your personal loan against a vehicle of equity in a property, though your interest rates may be higher than those of other borrowers. Consider contacting a lender before applying to discuss your options.
Comprehensive credit reporting may change your credit score – either positively or negatively.
Under comprehensive credit reporting, credit providers will share more information about how you and other Australians manage credit products. That means credit reporting bureaus will be able to make a more thorough assessment of everyone’s credit behaviour. For some consumers, that will lead to higher scores; for others, lower scores.
The Australian personal loans market contains dozens of lenders offering several hundred different products. Personal loans are available through a range of institutions, including:
There are three main ways to access personal loans. You can go through a comparison website, such as RateCity. You can use a finance broker. Or you can directly contact the lender.
A bad credit personal loan is ‘secured’ when the borrower offers up an asset (such as a car or jewellery) as collateral or security. The lender can then seize the asset if the borrower fails to repay the loan.